Tucky



(No Model.) '3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. W. LE 'GRANDB & G'. W. BURTON. Q

WATGHMANS ELECTRIC SIGNAL BOX. No. 352,549. PatentedNovL 16, 18.86.

IJVVEJVTOR 3a 47 7? Hug 14R .3 SheetsSheet 2.

(No Model.)

W. W. LE GRANDE 8; G. W. BURTON.

WATGHMANS ELECTRIC SIGNAL BOX.

No. 352,549. Patented Nov 16, 1886.

I WITNESSES O 00 W (No Model.) I '3'Sheets Sheet 3. W. W. LE GRANDE-& G.W. BURTON,

WATGHMANS ELECTRIC SIGNAL Box.

No. 352,549. atented Nov. 16, 18861 UNITED STATES PATENT rFicE.

' WILLIAM W. LE GRANDE AND GEORGE W. BURTON, OF LOUISV ILLE, KEN- TUOKY;SAID LE GRANDE ASSIGNOR TO SAID BURTON.

WATCHMANS ELECTRIC SIGNAL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,549, dated November16, 1886. Application filed February 9, 1886. Serial No. 191,291. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM W. LE GRANDE and GEORGE W. BURTON, citizensof the United States, residing at Louisville, in

the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in WVatchmens Electric Signal-Boxes, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to an improved W2t|3011- mans automatic signal-boxfor use in awatchmans electric control system, its objects being, first,to provide an apparatus of this class in which a registering mechanismfor in- '1 dicating the number of times the box has been visited by thewatchman will be directly operated by the hand of the watchman in winding up the spring for sending a signal, instead of depending for itsoperation upon the force of the spring in unwinding, as heretofore;secondly, to prevent the registering mechanism within the box from beingset for operation for registering, except when the signaling-circuit ofthe box is complete; and, thirdly,to'so arrange the make and breakdevices that even should the box be cut out of circuit and the crankturned to operate the same and afterward be put in; circuit, the circuitwill not be closed and battery uselessly consumed, but that at a propertime, when the mechanism is closing and breaking the circuit to sendeach complete signal, the registering devices will be placed in propercondition for making a single registration when subsequently operated bythe act of the watchman in winding up the spring.

Our invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements ofdevices comprising a station signal transmitting and reg- 4c isteringapparatus designed to carry out the objects stated, and the same will bereadily understood from the following particular description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a frontperspective view of one of our station signal-boxes. Fig. 2 is a rearelevation of the same. Fig. 3is a perspective view of the interior partswith the cap or cover removed. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of 50 thesame. Fig. 5 is a perspective View, on an enlarged scale, of theelectro-magnet, its armature, and the tripping devices. Fig. 6 is a planview of the gear -wheel, make-andbreak wheel, and the escapeinent-wheel,also showing the electro-magnet and its circuitconnections.

The letter A indicates simply a cap or cover secured to a base or backplate, A, provided with short hollow legs a, through which pass thescrews for securing the box to a wall or other support. The legs causethe back plate to stand off from the wall, so that the circuitwires maybe conveniently connected at suitable points behind the box.

The working parts of the apparatus are supported by a frame within thebox, said frame being composed of plates B and B and intermediate postsor pillars, b. The rear plate, B, is separated from the base-plate ofthe box by lugs 0, through which pass the screws for holding the framein place. At the center of the frame is mounted a shaft, D, the ends of,which project, respectively, in front of the front plate, B, and behindthe base-plate A of the box. 7

Upon the shaft D, and between the front and rear plates of the frame, isfixed a ratchetwheel, E, and behind the ratchet-wheel a gearwheel, F, ismounted loosely on the shaft, and has pivoted to its front face aspring-pawl, f, which engages with the teeth of said ratchetwheel. Thegear-wheel F engages with apin ion, on a shaft, G, which also carries anescapement-wheel, g, which is governed by a pallet, h, and fan H,mounted in the usual manner. The end of this shaft G projects in frontof the front plate, B, and carries the makeand-break wheel I, the teeth*6 2' and iof which come in contact with a metallic spring, K, as thewheel revolves, and thus closethe circuit intermittently for sendingsignals in the Wellknown manner.

Between the rear plate, B, of the frame and the base-plate A of the boxis located acoiled impelling-spring, M, having its inner end secured tothe shaft D, and its'outer end secured to a fixed pin. Upon the rearprojecting end of shaft D is fixed a handle or lever, D, by which it maybe turned for properly straining the spring. Suitable stops limit themove- Ico show that he makes his visits.

ment of the handle in both directions. When the handle is moved in thedirection of the arrow until it strikes its stop and is then released,the shaft D will have been turned sufficiently for a fresh tooth of theratchet-wheel E to engage the pawl of wheel F; and the reaction of thespring will return the shaft, and the ratchet-wheel will carry with itthe wheel F, which will turn the shaft G and make-andbreak wheel I onecomplete revolution, causing the teeth 13 i t to contact with the springK and close the circuit as many times as there are teeth. For work inopen circuit, by changing the make-and-break wheel I, bringing spring Kto rest thereon, and adapting the lever t and also changing the positionof spring t, the box may be adapted to closed-circuit work. The courseof the circuit will be presently pointed out.

It is the duty of a watchman to visit the box and to turn in signals atstated times toare usually registered or recorded automatically at amain station by suitable devices, such as a combined clock andelectro-magnetic recording apparatus, as shown in the patent of W. W. LeGrande, No. 303,298, granted August 12, 1884. It is also desirable thatthe watchman shall personally registerhis visits at each box by meanswithin the box, and prevented from making false registration with thecentral recording apparatus by improper connections or breaks at some'point on the line. We therefore mount upon the front projecting end ofthe shaft D a toothed registering-wheel, N, which may be turnedindependently of the shaft. \Vith this registering-wheel a notchedmultiplying registerwheel, N, is arranged in the usual manner, to beoperated byatrip, n. The wheel N is held steady and prevented frombackward movementby a spring-pawl, n.

Behind the register-wheel N there is fixed to the shaft D a radial arm,P, Whichprojects beyond the periphery of the wheel and carries at itsouter end a cross-arm, p, from the extremities of which pins (1 qproject forwardly. In front of this arm 1?, but behind theregisterwheel, a radial arm, R, is pivoted loosely upon the shaft D, andextends outward between the pins q q and considerably beyond thecrossarm 1). On this pivoted arm are lugs r r, in hearings in which isarranged a sliding triprod, S, the inner end of which is provided with afoot, 8, to engage the teeth of the registerwheel. Around the trip -rodS is coiled a spring, 8, one end of which bears against the outer lug,r,while the other end bears against a pin, 8 projecting from the rod,and so presses the foot of the rod against the periphery of theregister-wheel N. \Vhen the main shaft D is turned by its handle to windthe spring for sending a signal, the arm I? will swing with the shaft,and the pin g on cross-arm 1) will strike the pivoted arm R and move italso, so that the trip-rod S, having its foot engaged with a tooth ofthe register-wheel,will move The signals said wheel the requireddistance to count one unitthat is, the space of one tooth of the wheel.As the shaft D is turned back again by its diiving-spring, the pin qleaves the arm R and the pin q strikes it, carrying it back against asuitable stop, which limits its backward motion. As the said arm R movesbackward, the foot of the trip-rod S slips over the inclined face of atooth of wheel N, and engages its front or abrupt edge, ready to movethe wheel the space of another tooth. The

numbers on the registry-wheels show through a suitable opening in thefrontwall of the boxcap.- It will be now seen that each time'theapparatus is operated to send in a signal the fact of such operation isregistered within the box, and it will be further noted that theregistration is directly performed by the person turning the shaft D towind the spring,instead of by the spring in unwinding, as has heretoforebeen the case in registering signal-boxes. Our apparatus is thusrendered more certain in its operation than if we relied upon thespring.

In order to prevent fraudulent registration on the part of the watchman,we have provided means for preventing any registration from beingmade,except when the apparatus is operated for actually turning in asignal and the circuit of the signal devices is complete. One of theline-wires, as L, which enters the box, connects with one terminal ofthe coils of a small electromagnet, T, the other terminal of which isconnected with the metallicspring K, and through the same .to themake-andbreak wheel when the teeth of said wheel strike said spring. Theother line-wire, as L, connects directly with the base-plate of the box,

and through the metallic frame to the makeand-break wheel. The armaturetof the electro-magnet T is carried by a. lever, t, which is retracted bya spring, t. Upon the back edge of the lever t is a shoulder or stop, t,which, when the lever is retracted, stands in the path of the pivotedarm R, and will prevent said arm from carrying the trip-rod backsufficiently far to engage a fresh tooth of the registeringwheel, sothat said trip rod will not be placed in proper position for furtherregistration. When, however, the magnet is energized by the closing ofthe circuit, the

armature will be attracted and the shoulder on the lever t will be drawnout of the path of the arm B, so that the same may move back a properdistance to cause the trip-rod to engage a fresh tooth, ready foranother registration.

In using the first registering-boxes we got up, a watchman could breakthe line-circuit temporarily outside and then operate the registeringmechanism to falsely indicate that any number of visits had been made.Then, after mending the circuit, he could, at some point where he mightdesire to remain or where he could easily visit, break and make the wirecircuit easily, and at proper intervals send in his signals withoutvisiting the box,though the registration he had made would indicate thathe had gone his regular rounds, so far as visits to the box areconcerned. In our box the last tooth, i, of the make-and-break is ar- 5ranged to close circuit just as the arm R, in moving back, reaches theshoulder or stop t on the armature-lever, and said arm therefore passesover said shoulder to its proper starting-point if the circuit iscompleted by said tooth, but not otherwise. It is therefore impossibleto make successive registrations at improper places without the samebeing detected at the main or central, office or at the boxes.

1 Although it is necessary that the circuit shall be closed to place theregistering mechanism in proper condition, we do not keep the circuitnormally closed, but provide especially that it shall be open, when theapparatus is not in use for signaling, when. the box is operated on anopen-circuit line. This wedo by so constructing the box that after ithas been operated the make-and-break wheel I will continue itsrevolution after the shoulder i stops the arm R until all the teeth onwheel I have passed the spring K.

On reference to the drawings itwill be seen that all the teeth of themake-and-break wheel I are out of contact with the spring K. This is thenormal position of the wheel when the box is at rest, and however manyteeth it may have, its normal position,from which it always starts andto which it will always return on completing a revolution, is such thatthe last tooth of the series will have passed out of contact with springK before the Wheel stops.

Having now fully described our invention and explained the operationthereofiwe claim-- 1. The combination, with the handle, shaft D, spring,and signal-wheel, of the toothed 4o registeringwheel, the pivoted rod R,the triprod carried by said pivoted rod and having a foot to engage theregistering-wheel, and suitable means connected with shaft D foroperating said pivoted rod,substantially as described. 5

2. The combination, with the pivoted rod R, arranged to operate theregistering devices, of the electro-magnet T in thebox-circuit and thearmaturelever having a shoulder or stop arranged to stand in the path ofsaid lever when the box-circuit is broken, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the registering mechanism and a lever or armfor operating the same, of the electromagnet having an armatn re-leverarranged to arrest said arm when the magnet is not energized, as setforth.

4. The combination, with the registering mechanism, the pivoted arm R,arranged to operate the same, and the electro-magnet hav 6o ing itsarmature-lever provided with a shoulder or stop arranged to stand in thebackward path of said arm when the magnet is not energized, of theniake-and-break wheel having I one of its teeth arranged to close acircuit through said magnet when said pivoted arm reaches said shoulderor stop, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

WVILLIAM W. LE GRANDE. GEORGE W. BURTON.

Witnesses:

T. J OHNSTON, CHAS. O. BOSSUNG.

